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Hunter Moore of Is Anyone Up

Facebook is threatening legal action against IsAnyoneUp, a blog that posts people's naked photos alongside screenshots of their Facebook profile pages to make it clear who they are, where they live, and how to contact them. The photos are submitted by IsAnyoneUp readers; sometimes they are self-submitted, but sometimes they are "revenge porn" -- pornographic souvenirs from relationships gone sour. After complaints from users about screenshots of their profiles being used without their consent, Facebook is wading in, and in the words of Gawker, declaring war.

"Facebook hates you," declared IsAnyoneUp proprietor Hunter Moore on his NSFW blog, posting a screenshot of the cease-and-desist letter [PDF via Gawker] that he received from the company's lawyers this week. It orders him to remove all past Facebook profile screenshots from his site and to stop using them in the future. Facebook says Moore's actions are illegal, violating the site's terms of service by publishing screenshots of users' accounts and "personally identifiable information" without their consent and by threatening, harassing and intimidating other Facebook users. Facebook has already shut down Moore's personal Facebook account(s), and says it's revoking Moore's license to use the Facebook "Like" and "Share" buttons on his site. Harsh!

"Protecting the people who use Facebook is a top priority and we will take action against those who violate our terms," says a Facebook spokesperson.

I've detailed before how someone featured on the site against their will might respond legally. I chatted with a lawyer last night about Facebook's claims; he suggested that Facebook could potentially pursue a legal case against IsAnyoneUp for copyright violations, as well as violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which currently criminalizes Terms of Service violations. In cases where Moore actually has the permission of the individual to publish their photos and Facebook profile page screenshot, though, Facebook would not have much traction.

Moore is putting his usual bravado on display, as well as a few other things. He's continued to publish new Facebook profile shots since getting the letter, and, according to Gawker, sent an email response to Joseph Cutler, the Perkins Coie lawyer who authored the cease-and-desist, that contained a "self-portrait" worthy of IsAnyoneUp's pages. I'm sure that will make its way into a future legal brief should Facebook decide to actually take him to court.